with advantage as deoxidizers by the use of ferro-titanium to purify, solidify, and check segregation. ( 5 ) Ductility and elongation tests (see E q . Record, September 2 1 , 1912, 322) to date furnish the best and only prompt means of determining the degree of purity of the steel per melt as it is made by indicating the physical properties securcd bcforc another melt is tapped from the same furnace. (6) Every process of step of the entire manufacture of thc steel and rolling and finishing of the rails must contribute its part to secure the highest quality of the product incident to the chemical composition. I n the discussion of Dudley’s paper a number of points of interest were brought out. There seemed to be an approximate uniformity of belief t h a t the present method of cropping to get rid of pipes is satisfactory, and that a n arbitrary percentage to be cropped would be undesirable and unfair to the manufacturers of the best steel. The general belief also appeared to be that the best steel was that so made that pipes formed, that special processes for eliminating pipes were likely to introducc greater danger of segregation, and that the essential requirement for minimizing pipe was to compel the ingot to cool slowly in a direction upward from the bottom.
off moisture and equalize surface expansion and contraction. The heat is then shut 03, the car is cooled down to about rigc and the priming coat applied while the metal is hot. Thc temperature is again raised to zooo and the enamel baked for three hours. Second and third coats arc baked a t 1 4 0 O for thrrc hours, and the last coat for three hours a t 1 3 0 ~ . All coats except the first one arc applied with thc. air in the car cooled to about i o o . The old enamel is scraped off by hand before painting to remo\-c the bulk of the covering; the surface is then gone over with a standard varnish remover carefully applied so t h a t all the old enamel is removed from the pores of the metal. To clean off traces of the varnish remover, the surface is rubbed with waste soaked in gasoline. The costs are in general about equal to those of common high-grade painting. The best of materials have t o be used, volume of baking hut a given - enamel covers about twice as much surface as the air-drying variety. ...
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THE
THE “OPTIMUS PLASTIC ALLOY” Tests made recently in France on bus-bar joints showed that on a bus-bar carrying 1760 amperes, 84.5 watts \rere lost per hour owing to heating. I n a plant operating I O hours per day and 300 days per year, P o z e r observes, this would represent 2 j 3 kilowatt-hours per year. This loss may not appear large, but it should be noted that the joint tested was only one of a number of similar ones on the sivitchboard. A preparation termed “Optirnus Plastic Alloy” has been put on the market for reducing such losses. It is in the form of a metal putty which is a good conductor, and is applied in such a manner as to fill up the cavities on the surface, whereby, it is claimed, the plates are made continuous electrically, the above-mentioned loss is reduced by about 85 per cent and moisture is excluded. The application of the alloy is made in the cold. “AJAX ANTI-RUST SHEETS’) A Philadelphia company is now marketing sheets consisting of a galvanized black plate, ox-er which is placed a coating of lead. The iron is protected by the electro-positive zinc, the zinc by the chemically inert lead. In addition, it is claimed t h a t the lead penetrates the zinc coating, making it less likely to scale off during bending, etc. The manufacturers recommend the plate for dye-works, smelters, and in other construction likely to be exposcd to the action of destructive and corrosive fumes and gases. ~~
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THE PAINTING O F STEEL PASSENGER COACHES The painting of steel passenger coaches with baking enamels has recently been found t o be successfully and economically accomplishable, and a railroad operating between New Uork City and New Jersey points has used baking enamel in repainting its rolling stock with good results. This work is described in the Electric Railiiay Journal, 1913, Jan. 2 5 . In this casc, since the cars are used almost exclusively in tunnel service, thc exterior appearance of the coaches was not considered but the interior finish was desired carefully done. After cleaning, the car is first heated t o zooo with electric heaters strung between the stanchions in the car. The temperature is controlled by a man who watches, through a window, a thermometer inside the car, the current being turned off or on as needed. Windows and doors are closed tight and ventilators are covered with newspapers stuck to the roof with tar. The car is allowed to remain a t zooo for one hour to dfive
“DISSIPATOR”
The “ Dissipator, ” the rights on which arc controlled by a Frankfurt a/hl, Germany, concern, a n d \r h i c h is illustrated hercn-ith, is reported to have hecn introduced into the industries with great success. I t is said t o render obnoxious gases less objectionable by diluting them 7%- i t h air and to “eliminatc visible fumes a t a short distance from thc chimney.” The manufacturers claim t h a t the “ Dissipator ” can be crectcd by any competent chimney builder, t h a t it can be fitted on to existing chimneys, and t h a t there a r e n o operating expenscs.
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RECOVERY OF COKE FROM ASHES Power reports that the recovery of thc combustible matter remaining in coal ashes is receiving earnest attention a t present in Germany, where it is said 150 million tons of coal are burned annually and about one-third of that amount is burned in furnaces from which the ash and cinder would yield 6 to 8 million tons of residual matter containing 2 to 3 million tons of combustible matter. A mechanical process for separating the combustible matter from ordinar). boiler ashes has been devised by A. F. hluller. This consists in first crushing the ashes and then separating the components thereof by placing the ashes in liquids of different specific gravities: the residual matter is said to be practically free from any combustible material, and may bc used in the manufacture of concrete blocks. ,4n experimental plant is reported to recover 38 tons of coke, ‘1,to 2 in. in size. from 2,000 tons of boiler ashes; this recovered material, when dry, contains about 84 per cent. combustible matter and posseises a calorific value of about 6,500 B. T. U. per pound. ~.
THE PRODUCTION O F FLORIDA PHOSPHATE I N 1912 The State Geologist, E. H. Sellards, reports ( E n g . Min. I.,
